The Traitors US, The Traitors NZ, The Traitors Australia and soon, Celebrity Traitors! If its TV shows similar to The Traitors youre after now that series three of the UK version has ended, you dont need to look further than the shows international and spinoff versions.In addition to that, you could opt for one of the many, many reality TV series with which The Traitors shares a good amount of DNA: Netflixs The Mole, The Trust: A Game of Greed, and Korean series The Devils Plan; or long-running show The Challenge on Paramount+ UK, Prime Videos House of Villains, and US-only shows The Hustler and Snake in the Grass.Those are your route-one choices. For something that scratches that The Traitors itch while also standing alone as great TV, why not look further afield to the shows below?The Jury: Murder TrialStreaming on: Channel4.comOne for the strong-stomached. If the discomfort of watching Faithfuls seize on spurious evidence and use it to build cases against their fellow innocents is too much, then this might break you. If youre fascinated by how peoples beliefs and convictions are swayed by argument, emotion, and group affiliation, then get watching.Unlike The Traitors admin-based murders, The Jury: Murder Trial recreates a real-life case using court transcripts. It then sets two randomly assigned juries to work on the case, without either of them knowing about the others existence. Will they both reach the same verdict, or will they come to different conclusions and thereby explode our faith in the UK legal system? This four-part documentary series was a deserved ratings hit for Channel 4 that won critical acclaim and Best Docu-Series at the 2024 National Reality TV Awards, and its already been recommissioned for a second run. Derren Brown: The ExperimentsStream on: Pluto.tvIf the suggestibility of the human mind is what fascinates you about The Traitors, then you can get the same kick (and even more insight) from any of mentalist and illusionist Derren Browns specials many of which are streaming on Channel4.com in the UK.The Experiments was a 2011 four-part series in which Brown set up scenarios to answer lurid what if? questions such as can somebody be hypnotised into committing (a fake) murder?; how do people behave when anonymous in a group?; can somebody be made to confess to a murder they didnt commit?; and how far a community can be manipulated using superstition. Whatever conclusions are drawn, each hour makes for captivating viewing that gives you pause over whether any of us should be allowed our own bank accounts and the power to vote.HeistStream on: NetflixThe moral quandaries of The Traitors contestants are some of its most fascinating viewing. How each player tries to justify their decisions, or qualify their backstabbing, paints a complex picture of human guilt, ego and conscience. This six-part Netflix documentary series, which revisits three real-life, big news heists and interviews the people who committed them, has all that and more.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!With two episodes devoted to each of the three major thefts, their planning, execution and aftermath, Heist is a rounded look at why people transgress and the lengths to which theyll go to end up on top. Read our review here.Race Across the WorldStream on: BBC iPlayerThis ones made by the same production company as The Traitors, which means it has the same excellent casting better even, because with less than half as many contestants most of whom will make it to the finale, everybody has to carry more individual screentime. (Theres also a celebrity spinoff.)The premise is simple: like The Amazing Race, teams of two have to navigate to various checkpoints around the globe, without phones, the internet or credit cards. Unlike The Amazing Race, the pairs arent allowed to travel by air. They have to choose their routes, diversions, where to stay, how to eat, and plan time out of travelling to work and earn money, all of which puts their relationships under an exposing amount of pressure. As well as the international backdrops and glimpses into different cultures, the relationships are what really works about this show. Just like The Traitors, its all about how their bonds are affected by gameplay.Jury DutyStream on: Amazon Freevee (Prime Video)This comedy-reality hybrid was one of 2023s most entertaining and under-the-radar TV shows. Its premise in which everybody apart from one person involved in making the show is in on a joke may sounds exploitative, but its all done in such a good-natured, light-hearted way that it gets a pass.From the producers of The Office US, and with a comedy cast that befits that shows documentary styling, heres the set-up: one guy thinks hes on a real jury thats being filmed for an educational documentary, everybody around him from his fellow jurors to the judge and legal teams, are actors improvising their way through some very silly scenarios. Its sweet, its fun and it runs on The Traitors-style tongue-in-cheek humour. Read our review here.Squid Game: The ChallengeStream on: NetflixHands up who thought this was the worst, most obtuse commissioning decision ever taken? Squid Game is an anti-capitalist satire about the exploitation of the poor at the hands of the callous rich, in which contestants in a series of sick games are killed for real and pitted against each other until theres one winner. Hey, thought a Netflix exec lets do that for real. (Well, not really for real seeing as nobody dies in the gameshow version of the South Korean streaming phenomenon, though judging from the lawsuit that followed, nobody had a good time making it.)Squid Game: The Challenge was indeed a callous and obtuse commissioning move, as well as being one of total genius. As entertainment, it works, and nowhere better is The Traitors work-together-but-stab-each-other-in-the-back money-building mission dynamic better replicated on TV.And If Its Fiction Youre AfterFocus FeaturesAnatomy of a Fall Guilt, remorse, lies and conscience all come under the microscope in this excellent Oscar-nominated film featuring courtroom scenes more gripping than The Traitors roundtables. Stream it on Prime Video.Conclave A sequestered group of cardinals must vote in rounds to elect one of their number as a new pope in this Oscar-nominated film, but is each of the candidates playing a fair game? Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence goes detective to find out. In cinemas now.Mindhunter David Finchers acclaimed Netflix series follows the FBIs behavioural science unit trying to decipher what makes serial killers tick.Showtrial But did they do it? Thats the question these two standalone BBC series asks about accused murderers Talitha and Justin, whose interviews with their counsel gradually tell the real story. Stream on BBC iPlayer.The Traitors series 3 is streaming now on BBC iPlayer in the UK.

PublishedJanuary 27, 2025 Eternal Strands launching into Game Pass today doesnt so much draw from its influences as treat them like some kind of thought experiment. What if, in a Monster Hunter game, every piece of armour could be made out of every kind of material (each one subtly changing their stats), and boss monsters had miniature puzzles built into their design? What if Shadow of the Colossus titans could appear in any environment, offering new challenges depending on where you are, and what the weathers like? And what if a BioWare RPG turned your spell wheel into a way not just to attack enemies, but alter the world around you?These are, of course, very big comparisons. Eternal Strands is the debut game from a small developer (albeit one with some very impressive experience in its ranks), and its more compact than the games its referencing. But this brand-new action RPG brims with ambition, fizzes with ideas, and invites you to experiment as much as its developers have.You step into the greaves of Brynn, who you might term a spellsword a seasoned warrior with the ability to use elemental magic, whos recently joined a travelling band of explorers, enchanters, smiths, and researchers. Their aim is to enter a long-closed kingdom, The Enclave once the worlds home of magical innovation, its now left in ruin after a still-misunderstood cataclysm. It promises many of the hallmarks of a fantasy action-RPG magic, monsters, mysteries but it quickly reveals itself to be presenting with some much less familiar ideas. Magic is at the heart of this world, and magic provides the most immediately surprising bit of game design in Eternal Strands. Far from simply being attacks, or traversal mechanics, the three elements of magic you can access are deeply simulated. Cast a fire spell, and flames will spread across vegetation, or leave stone walkways superheated, damaging those who pass through. Ice can be used to hold enemies in place, or cool a now-flaming area. Telekinesis allows you to pick up and move practically anything that isnt nailed down, or pull them into an orbit you create. Once youve understood these, you can start combining them a favorite combo of mine is attaching what amounts to a gravity well to an enemy, filling it with fire, then detonating the original spell to cause enormous explosions no hand-to-hand combat required.Each strand of magic becomes a means of truly affecting the world around you which means youre constantly left thinking about how to use your spells, long after you first unlock them. Youll discover that cold will uncloak enemies using active camouflage, or that you can rip the shields away from robotic guardians left wandering The Enclave. As a marker of how deep this goes, I only realised around 5 hours into the game that the ore-filled rocks Id been smashing for materials could be heated by flame spells first, effectively smelting the loot inside. If I smashed them after heating, the materials inside became more valuable. This attention to detail turns totally innocuous bits of environmental detail into useful, reactive pieces of design taken as a whole, Eternal Strands turns something as fundamental as video game magic into a tool and a toy. And magic is far from the only system Yellow Brick is tinkering with. The games setting is split into multiple zones, each an open world in miniature, filled with blueprints to unlock for new equipment, changing weather conditions, alterations based on whether youre entering during night or day, major and minor objectives, and secrets waiting to be uncovered. These areas are built outwards and upwards in a nod to the recent Zelda games, Bryn can climb almost any surface, meaning looking above you is as important as seeing whats on the horizon.But core to each area is the Great Foes they hold. From flying drakes to building-sized automata, these are titanic bosses left to wander each area. Theyre your biggest combat challenge, as well as the means for unlocking and upgrading your spells each one is tied to a specific ability, meaning youll need to defeat all the Great Foes multiple times to unlock and then fully upgrade each spell.The brilliance of the Great Foes is that theyre far more than a dangerous healthbar each one acts like a puzzle in itself. One automaton boss requires you to climb across its gigantic body, unlatching armor plates before attacking specific body parts. A drake can fly away and attack you from the safety of the skies but you can ice up its wings to keep it bound to ground level (at least until the next gout of flame).When youve defeated a Great Foe once, youll unlock a codex entry covering not only its lore, but offering clues as to how to beat it without grinding down its HP. Instead, you can find ways to tear out the magic that powers it (effectively an insta-kill) and offering another layer of puzzle. That drake, for instance, will only offer up its magic while its airborne, and when its horns have been smashed off but it can easily knock you off its back when fully mobile. So, youll need to target the horns and just a single wing enough to leave it able to fly, but unable to perform more difficult maneuvers in order to get your prize. Combine the fact that Great Foes can appear in any area, and can even react to the weather conditions in different ways, and each boss becomes a thrill to fight multiple times across the length of the game. And thats to say nothing of the rare loot they drop.Like the Monster Hunter series, progression in Eternal Strands isnt tied to XP, but the gear you wear. Youll find blueprints for new armor and weapons on your travels but the key change here is that any material can be used to build any equipment. One type of ore might boost your swords attack, but weigh more, slowing you down. The thread you choose to make your gloves out of might increase your heat resistance, but make you far more susceptible when stepping into an unexpectedly frozen zone. In a lovely touch, every material comes with a different visual aspect the same bow can look very different, depending on what youve chosen to make it from. Of all of Eternal Strands innovations, the fact that it makes the RPG staple of scattered loot not only useful, but interesting, might be one of its most impressive.And behind all of this restless tinkering, this game also offers a gently fascinating, surprisingly relaxing experience. As you explore, youll build relationships with your party back in the main hub area. Sure, you can relentlessly complete main objectives and push the story on, but equally you might want to complete some side tasks to hear more from your bands blacksmith, or simply ignore objectives altogether go loot hunting, secret finding, or boss killing. Theres no real pressure put on you to progress, meaning your route through the game is effectively self-directed I spent multiple hours simply gathering materials to make a metallic red suit of armor, simply because I wanted to. That became an exercise in relaxation, rather than a desperate grind something I wouldnt normally associate with the genre.Eternal Strands emerges as a game that pulls from so many familiar places, but comes together feeling vibrantly new. Experiments like this so often feel interesting, but remind you that the established way of doing things is there for a reason. Instead, this game offers a pointer for where the action-RPG could go.Eternal Strands launches today for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and cloud, and is available with Game Pass. It is also an Xbox Play Anywhere title, meaning when you buy it through the store on Xbox or Windows, its yours to play on Xbox and Windows PC at no additional cost, and your game progress and achievements are saved across Xbox and Windows PC. Eternal StrandsYellow Brick GamesGet it nowEternal Strands is the debut fantasy action-adventure title from Yellow Brick Games, a new independent studio founded by industry veterans. THE WORLD IS YOUR WEAPONAt the heart of Eternal Strands beats a revolutionary new system for gameplay interactions: heat spreads, cold chills, and real-time destruction allows for unprecedented reactivity in combat. Hurl burning tree trunks at enemies with telekinetic, snap nearby trees to block opposing fire, or channel raw telekinetic force to rip boulders from the ground. WEAVER OF MAGICWear the Mantle, a magical cloak that channels raw magic into raging flame, chilling ice, and telekinetic force. Combine your growing array of powers with enchanted weapons and armor crafted from slain enemies to create a custom look and style. Block incoming attacks with a wall of magical ice, lash out waves of flame from a massive two-handed blade, or toss enemies off a cliff with raw force. STAND AGAINST GIANTSFace gigantic adversaries and defeat them through a mix of sword, spell, and mobility. Leap onto and climb their massive forms to attack from different angles. Shatter armor or slice at weak spots to diminish their protection. Use ice to pin limbs of a towering foe, arcane flames to burn their fur, or catch lobbed projectiles and turn their attacks back upon them in battles that will leave scars upon the land. UNSTABLE CLIMATE TO MASTEREnhance the effectiveness of your ice abilities during a flash freeze to open up new paths. Use a heatwave to start a wildfire and watch it spread towards enemies as it consumes the tinder-dry trees and grass around it. A WORLD RICH WITH SECRETSExplore the wilds, the capital city of Dynevron, and the secrets beneath as every surface is climbable. Magical abilities can create bridges, burn barriers, or launch Brynn across the world. The next-generation physics system encourages and rewards player creativity in exploration as much as combat. As the Enclaves secrets unfold, return to base camp to consult with a rich cast of characters. Each are keen to discover the mysteries of what happened to this lost bastion of power and knowledge. A realm of mystery, opportunity, danger, and wonder: the Enclave awaits.

For interior designer Meghan Shadrick, the real challenge of renovating this Cape Codstyle cottage was knowing when to go all in and when to hold back. Parts of it needed a full gut reno (like the second floor), while other areas needed just cosmetic work (the family and living rooms). Some of these changes were made for the kind of unsexy practical reasons that give homeowners and contractors headaches: Shadrick and the architect and builder discovered rotten floorboards, support beans sawed three-quarters of the way through, and ancient DIY solutions to structural problems. There was a new curveball every week for many weeks once demolition started, Shadrick says. At one point, the builder said, Were lucky this house didnt fall down on us. Luckily, the rest of the changes were the fun kind.FAST FACTSDESIGNER: Megan Shadrick Interiors, based in Arlington, MassachusettsLOCATION: Harwich Port, MassachusettsTHE SPACE: A 3,200-square-foot, 4-bedroom, 3-bath house with a 1-bedroom, 2-bath attached apartment. Family RoomKristen Francis In this room, we married a beachy, vintage vibe with modern appeal, Shadrick says. She also improvised: Where there wasnt enough room in the wall to wire and install new lighting, Shadrick sourced plug-in sconces.Sofa: Lancaster Custom Crafted Upholstery. Coffee table and side table: O&G Studios. Camel armchair: Four Hands. Rattan cabinet: vintage. Art: Ramble Market. Pendant light: Anthropologie. Window coverings: Etsy. Sconces: Crate & Barrel.Courtesy of Meghan Shadrick InteriorsThe family room, before transformation.Courtesy of Meghan Shadrick InteriorsFloor plan of the houseLiving RoomKirsten FrancisThis room is cozy, dark, and moody for snuggling in during the harsh winter months, Shadrick says. The woven rush chairs add warmth and texture and match the whiskey-colored sofa.Sofa: Joybird. Rush armchairs: Noir Furniture. Coffee table: clients own. Rug: vintage, Brimfield Antique Show. Art: Ramble Market. Checkered pillow: Lulu & Georgia. Marbleized pillow: Rule of Three Studio. Rattan chest: Chairish.KitchenKirsten FrancisThe kitchen is where the homeowners made their biggest investment. They are really into entertaining and cooking, and wanted the kitchen to be a workhorse hub of the home, Shadrick says. The cabinetry is custom, and we selected wire-brushed cerused white oak for the hood surround and island. It really stands out in the space.Her biggest challenge was to work a range hood into the design despite a low ceiling height (it's 6'10") without making it look squat and puny. That took some finessing, she says. We elongated the whole design and connect the flanking cabinets in the same finish to draw the eye out and around.Cabinetry: Lewis & Weldon Cabinetry. Backsplash: Cle Tile. Hardware: Rejuvenation. Pendants: Lostine. Counter stools: Etsy. Faucet: Brizo. Range: Blue Star.Dining NookKirsten FrancisBanquettes work wonders when the dining area is small area and interferes with traffic flow in and out of space, Shadrick says. The seating group is off-center, which allows for a banquette and clears the way through the room.Dining table: William Sonoma Home. Dining chairs: Four Hands. Banquette: custom, in Romo fabric. Pendant: Regina Andrew. Picture light: Restoration Hardware. Sconce: Visual Comfort. Art: The Nines Art Gallery. Roman shade: custom, in Pierre Frey fabric. Fringed pillows: custom, in Romo fabric.BedroomKirsten FrancisUpstairs, Shadrick describes the rooms as a hodgepodge maze of small bedrooms with low ceilings and a sloping roofline. Nooks and crannies galore, she says. With rooflines, dormers, and many ins and outs, we created what feels like a nook for the bed setup.Bed: Rejuvenation. Bedding: Garnet Hill and Serena & Lily. Nightstand: Blu Dot. Window treatments: custom, in Quadrille fabric. Sconces: Arteriors Home. Girls RoomKirsten FrancisIn a different house, this pocket-sized bedroom would have been a walk-in closet, but Shadrick put it to work as a charming childs bedroom. We decided to get into the weeds on details to make it feel intentional and special. The width perfectly fit a built-in twin bed with a pull-out for overnight guests. Shadrick is particularly pleased with the decision to paper the walls and ceiling. It was the first time I used the same pattern on both, and Ive since done this on other projects with great effect, she says. I think it works especially well in this house because it distracts the eye of the low ceiling height.Bed: Built-Ins by Eddie. Wallpaper: Thibaut. Sheets: Garnet Hill. Coverlet: L.L. Bean. Sconce: Lumens. Rug: Anthropologie. Art: Ramble Market.BathroomKirsten FrancisKirsten FrancisThe zero-clearance shower is just a couple of feet away from the soaking tub, which essentially makes this bathroom one large wet room. Vanity: RH. Sconces: Rejuvenation. Mirror: Van Collier. Faucet and bath fittings: Waterworks. Pedestal table: CB2. Floor tile: Marble Online. Copper tub: Signature Hardware. Window treatment: Jim Thompson. Paint: Portola Paints.MudroomKirsten FrancisThis space, which is in a more recent addition, got a complete overhaul to make it feel consistent with the older parts of the house. The paneling was copied from the irregular built-ins in the family and living rooms. I think it really lends a nostalgic feeling, Shadrick says. These are features that help tell a story of time and place, and it is usually what Im trying to create in a new home. Wallpaper on the floor and ceiling also helps this space feel taller.Wallpaper: Hamilton Weston. Runner: Ramble Market. Pillow: Romo. Bench: Lewis & Weldon Cabinetry. Light fixture: Generation Lighting. Tile: Cl Tile.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

The practice of medicine has undergone an incredible, albeit incomplete, transformation over the past 50 years, moving steadily from a field informed primarily by expert opinion and the anecdotal experience of individual clinicians toward a formal scientific discipline.The advent of evidence-based medicine meant clinicians identified the most effective treatment options for their patients based on quality evaluations of the latest research. Now, precision medicine is enabling providers to use a patients individual genetic, environmental and clinical information to further personalize their care.The potential benefits of precision medicine also come with new challenges. Importantly, the amount and complexity of data available for each patient is rapidly increasing. How will clinicians figure out which data is useful for a particular patient? What is the most effective way to interpret the data in order to select the best treatment?These are precisely the challenges that computer scientists like me are working to address. Collaborating with experts in genetics, medicine and environmental science, my colleagues and I develop computer-based systems, often using artificial intelligence, to help clinicians integrate a wide range of complex patient data to make the best care decisions.The rise of evidence-based medicineAs recently as the 1970s, clinical decisions were primarily based on expert opinion, anecdotal experience and theories of disease mechanisms that were frequently unsupported by empirical research. Around that time, a few pioneering researchers argued that clinical decision-making should be grounded in the best available evidence. By the 1990s, the term evidence-based medicine was introduced to describe the discipline of integrating research with clinical expertise when making decisions about patient care.The bedrock of evidence-based medicine is a hierarchy of evidence quality that determines what kinds of information clinicians should rely on most heavily to make treatment decisions.Certain types of evidence are stronger than others. While filtered information has been evaluated for rigor and quality, unfiltered information has not.CFCF/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SARandomized controlled trials randomly place participants in different groups that receive either an experimental treatment or a placebo. These studies, also called clinical trials, are considered the best individual sources of evidence because they allow researchers to compare treatment effectiveness with minimal bias by ensuring the groups are similar.Observational studies, such as cohort and case-control studies, focus on the health outcomes of a group of participants without any intervention from the researchers. While used in evidence-based medicine, these studies are considered weaker than clinical trials because they dont control for potential confounding factors and biases.Overall, systematic reviews that synthesize the findings of multiple research studies offer the highest quality evidence. In contrast, single-case reports detailing one individuals experience are weak evidence because they may not apply to a wider population. Similarly, personal testimonials and expert opinions alone are not supported by empirical data.In practice, clinicians can use the framework of evidence-based medicine to formulate a specific clinical question about their patient that can be clearly answered by reviewing the best available research. For example, a clinician might ask whether statins would be more effective than diet and exercise to lower LDL cholesterol for a 50 year-old male with no other risk factors. Integrating evidence, patient preferences and their own expertise, they can develop diagnoses and treatment plans.As may be expected, gathering and putting all the evidence together can be a laborious process. Consequently, clinicians and patients commonly rely on clinical guidelines developed by third parties such as the American Medical Association, the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization. These guidelines provide recommendations and standards of care based on systematic and thorough assessment of available research.Dawn of precision medicineAround the same time that evidence-based medicine was gaining traction, two other transformative developments in science and health care were underway. These advances would lead to the emergence of precision medicine, which uses patient-specific information to tailor health care decisions to each person.The first was the Human Genome Project, which officially began in 1990 and was completed in 2003. It sought to create a reference map of human DNA, or the genetic information cells use to function and survive.This map of the human genome enabled scientists to discover genes linked to thousands of rare diseases, understand why people respond differently to the same drug, and identify mutations in tumors that can be targeted with specific treatments. Increasingly, clinicians are analyzing a patients DNA to identify genetic variations that inform their care.Output from the DNA sequencer used by the Human Genome Project.National Human Genome Research Institute/FlickrThe second was the development of electronic medical records to store patient medical history. Although researchers had been conducting pilot studies of digital records for several years, the development of industry standards for electronic medical records began only in the late 1980s. Adoption did not become widespread until after the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.Electronic medical records enable scientists to conduct large-scale studies of the associations between genetic variants and observable traits that inform precision medicine. By storing data in an organized digital format, researchers can also use these patient records to train AI models for use in medical practice.More data, more AI, more precisionSuperficially, the idea of using patient health information to personalize care is not new. For example, the ongoing Framingham Heart Study, which began in 1948, yielded a mathematical model to estimate a patients coronary artery disease risk based on their individual health information, rather than the average population risk.One fundamental difference between efforts to personalize medicine now and prior to the Human Genome Project and electronic medical records, however, is that the mental capacity required to analyze the scale and complexity of individual patient data available today far exceeds that of the human brain. Each person has hundreds of genetic variants, hundreds to thousands of environmental exposures and a clinical history that may include numerous physiological measurements, lab values and imaging results. In my teams ongoing work, the AI models were developing to detect sepsis in infants use dozens of input variables, many of which are updated every hour.Researchers like me are using AI to develop tools that help clinicians analyze all this data to tailor diagnoses and treatment plans to each individual. For example, some genes can affect how well certain medications work for different patients. While genetic tests can reveal some of these traits, it is not yet feasible to screen every patient due to cost. Instead, AI systems can analyze a patients medical history to predict whether genetic testing will be beneficial based on how likely they are to be prescribed a medication known to be influenced by genetic factors.Another example is diagnosing rare diseases, or conditions that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. Diagnosis is very difficult because many of the several thousand known rare diseases have overlapping symptoms, and the same disease can present differently among different people. AI tools can assist by examining a patients unique genetic traits and clinical characteristics to determine which ones likely cause disease. These AI systems may include components that predict whether the patients specific genetic variation negatively affects protein function and whether the patients symptoms are similar to specific rare diseases.Future of clinical decision-makingNew technologies will soon enable routine measurement of other types of biomolecular data beyond genetics. Wearable health devices can continuously monitor heart rate, blood pressure and other physiological features, producing data that AI tools can use to diagnose disease and personalize treatment.Related studies are already producing promising results in precision oncology and personalized preventive health. For example, researchers are developing a wearable ultrasound scanner to detect breast cancer, and engineers are developing skinlike sensors to detect changes in tumor size.Research will continue to expand our knowledge of genetics, the health effects of environmental exposures and how AI works. These developments will significantly alter how clinicians make decisions and provide care over the next 50 years.Aaron J. Masino, Associate Professor of Computing, Clemson UniversityThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Story by The Conversation An independent news and commentary website produced by academics and journalists. An independent news and commentary website produced by academics and journalists. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

iOS 18.3 isnt a groundbreaking update for iPhone users, but it does include several key changes. Heres when to expect Apple to release iOS 18.3iOS 18.3 release dateApples beta testing schedule for iOS 18.3 has followed roughly the same pattern as iOS 17.3 last year, but with a slight delay. Here are the dates of iOS 17.3s beta testing cycle:Beta 1: December 13, 2023Beta 2: January 3, 2024Beta 3: January 9, 2024Release Candidate (RC): January 17, 2024Public release: January 22, 2024And here are the dates of iOS 18.3s beta testing cycle thus far: Beta 1: December 16, 2025Beta 2: January 7, 2025Beta 3: January 16, 2025Release Candidate (RC): January 21, 2025This would suggest that iOS 18.3 will be released to everyone as soon as soon as this week. Whats new in iOS 18.3? While iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2 were major updates for iPhone users, iOS 18.3 is a much smaller release. The update focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements, along with a key change to Apple Intelligence. iOS 18.3: Here are Apples full release notesApple has also announced that it will release new Black Unity wallpapers in honor of Black History Month with an upcoming software update. This update will likely be iOS 18.3. Apple is expected to pick up the pace again with iOS 18.4, including major new Apple Intelligence features. iOS 18.4 is expected to enter beta testing later this month and be released to everyone in March or April. My favorite iPhone accessories: Follow Chance:Threads,Bluesky,Instagram, andMastodon.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Apple has released a new version of its Sports app for iPhone with three new features.These include better navigation with swiping between pages, more soccer event support, and broadcast info for where to watch national games. Apple released its in-house Sports app almost a year ago, bringing a new way to easily track leagues, teams, and more with a dedicated app that works with Live Activities on iPhone and Apple Watch.These are the release notes for Apple Sports version 2.4:The Apple Sports soccer lineup keeps getting bigger with the FA Cup, EFL Championship, and League Cup.Navigating between your favorites is even faster now. Swipe left or right to browse all of the leagues and teams you follow.Tune in to all the national games with broadcast information now available on game pages.Check out the new version from the App Store here.Meanwhile, mark your calendars for the Eagles vs Chiefs Super Bowl rematch in New Orleans on February 9. Fortunately, theres a convenient way to stream the game in 4K for free this year.Top iPhone accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

A Chinese AI chatbot called DeepSeek has rocketed to the top of the charts on Apple's App Store beating the ever-popular ChatGPT, among other competitors.But what had Silicon Valley leaders breaking out in a cold sweat over the weekend were claims that the open-source large language model it's based on, DeepSeek V3, was trained with a fraction of the computing power they've been relying on, developed for what was reportedly less than $6 million.Western AI models,on the other hand, have sucked up billions of funding, with companies including OpenAI looking to spend hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years to build out the infrastructure required to train these behemoth models and keep them running.The timing couldn't be worse. Just last week, US president Donald Trump announced a $500 billion AI infrastructure deal, dubbed Stargate, that involved the ChatGPT maker alongside investment company SoftBank, tech giant Oracle, and others spending a planned $500 billion on AI datacenters over the next few years. Not to be outdone, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Friday that the company would be spending a record $60 billion on AI this year alone.DeepSeek bringing something impressive to market for far less raises an unnerving question for all those check writers: what if AI can actually be done for cheap, without all that epic infrastructure?AI chipmaker Nivida, in particular, felt the ground shake when trading began on Monday, with shares dropping around eleven percent in early trading. Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI, slid almost four percent. SoftBank and Oracle plummeted around nine and seven percent, respectively.DeepSeek claims its latest R1 model has a performance that's on par with OpenAI's o1 model, which was released last fall.If true to be clear, there are plenty of experts out there who claim the Chinese outfit may be fudging the numbers the latest AI chatbot could be a point of reckoning for the likes of OpenAI, who are riding an enormous wave of AI hype and lavish, multibillion-dollar deals."DeepSeeks power implications for AI training punctures some of the [capital expenditure] euphoria which followed major commitments from Stargate and Meta last week," investment bank Jefferies analysts wrote in a note to investors, noting increasing "pressure on AI players to justify ever-increasing capex plans."Other analyst groups claimed the latest hype surrounding DeepSeek was overblown."In short, we believe that 1) DeepSeek DID NOT 'build OpenAI for $5M'; 2) the models look fantastic but we dont think they are miracles; and 3) the resulting Twitterverse panic over the weekend seems overblown," Bernstein analysts wrote.Nonetheless, DeepSeek has sent ripples across the AI chatbot landscape and its leaders are broadcasting a clear message."OpenAI is not a god, they won't necessarily always be at the forefront," the company's founder Lian Wenfeng told JP Morgan analysts.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has so far remained silent on the matter.It's certainly a story to watch, as ungodly sums of money are being poured into building AI infrastructure in the US. Could the datacenters currently being built already be out of date as soon as they come online? Could OpenAI match DeepSeek's extremely lean operating model? How long would that take?For now, the Chinese company is certainly an outlier."The number of companies who have $6 million to spend is vastly greater than the number of companies who have $100 million or $1 billion to spend," Page One Ventures investor Chris Nicholson told the New York Times.In short, DeepSeek has thrown down the gauntlet, and investors of US-based AI companies will be asking plenty of questions going forward.More on Stargate: A Key Trump Goal Emerges: Replacing Human Jobs With AIShare This Article

Jan 27, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Software SecurityMultiple security vulnerabilities have been disclosed in GitHub Desktop as well as other Git-related projects that, if successfully exploited, could permit an attacker to gain unauthorized access to a user's Git credentials."Git implements a protocol called Git Credential Protocol to retrieve credentials from the credential helper," GMO Flatt Security researcher Ry0taK, who discovered the flaws, said in an analysis published Sunday. "Because of improper handling of messages, many projects were vulnerable to credential leakage in various ways."The list of identified vulnerabilities is as follows -CVE-2025-23040 (CVSS score: 6.6) - Maliciously crafted remote URLs could lead to credential leaks in GitHub Desktop CVE-2024-50338 (CVSS score: 7.4) - Carriage-return character in remote URL allows the malicious repository to leak credentials in Git Credential ManagerCVE-2024-53263 (CVSS score: 8.5) - Git LFS permits retrieval of credentials via crafted HTTP URLsCVE-2024-53858 (CVSS score: 6.5) - Recursive repository cloning in GitHub CLI can leak authentication tokens to non-GitHub submodule hostsWhile the credential helper is designed to return a message containing the credentials that are separated by the newline control character ("\n"), the research found that GitHub Desktop is susceptible to a case of carriage return ("\r") smuggling whereby injecting the character into a crafted URL can leak the credentials to an attacker-controlled host."Using a maliciously crafted URL it's possible to cause the credential request coming from Git to be misinterpreted by Github Desktop such that it will send credentials for a different host than the host that Git is currently communicating with thereby allowing for secret exfiltration," GitHub said in an advisory.A similar weakness has also been identified in the Git Credential Manager NuGet package, allowing for credentials to be exposed to an unrelated host. Git LFS, likewise, has been found not to check for any embedded control characters, resulting in a carriage return line feed (CRLF) injection via crafted HTTP URLs. On the other hand, the vulnerability impacting GitHub CLI takes advantage of the fact that the access token is configured to be sent to hosts other than github[.]com and ghe[.]com as long as the environment variables GITHUB_ENTERPRISE_TOKEN, GH_ENTERPRISE_TOKEN, and GITHUB_TOKEN are set, and CODESPACES is set to "true" in the case of the latter."While both enterprise-related variables are not common, the CODESPACES environment variable is always set to true when running on GitHub Codespaces," Ry0taK said. "So, cloning a malicious repository on GitHub Codespaces using GitHub CLI will always leak the access token to the attacker's hosts."Successful exploitation of the aforementioned flaws could lead to a malicious third-party using the leaked authentication tokens to access privileged resources.In response to the disclosures, the credential leakage stemming from carriage return smuggling has been treated by the Git project as a standalone vulnerability (CVE-2024-52006, CVSS score: 2.1) and addressed in version v2.48.1."This vulnerability is related to CVE-2020-5260, but relies on behavior where single carriage return characters are interpreted by some credential helper implementations as newlines," GitHub software engineer Taylor Blau said in a post about CVE-2024-52006.The latest version also patches CVE-2024-50349 (CVSS score: 2.1), which could be exploited by an adversary to craft URLs containing escape sequences to trick users into providing their credentials to arbitrary sites.Users are advised to update to the latest version to protect against these vulnerabilities. If immediate patching is not an option, the risk associated with the flaws can be mitigated by avoiding running git clone with --recurse-submodules against untrusted repositories. It's also recommended to not use the credential helper by only cloning publicly available repositories.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Shane Snider, Senior Writer, InformationWeekJanuary 27, 20253 Min ReadimageBROKER.com GmbH & Co. KG via Alamy Stock DeepSeek, an underdog Chinese startup with a large language model boasting powerful performance at a fraction of competitors steep training costs, knocked OpenAIs ChatGPT from its top position in the Apple App Store -- a development that on Monday spooked investors enough to send US technology stocks plummeting.DeepSeek claims its V3 large language model cost just $5.6 million to train, a fraction of ChatGPTs reported training costs of more than $100 million. With comparable performance to OpenAIs o1 model, a 95% cost cut may be especially attractive to cash-strapped companies looking to leverage generative AI (GenAI).The development sparked a pre-market selloff for major AI players, including Nvidia, Microsoft, and Meta. Investors sold off around $1 trillion in tech stocks in pre-market trading alone, with the S&P falling 2.3% and Nasdaq dropping by nearly 4% before the opening bell. Nvidia, the worlds leading supplier of AI chips, fell more than 11% in early trading. Chip designer Arm, Broadcom, and Micron Technology also suffered losses.In a research note, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote: Clearly tech stocks are under massive pressure led by Nvidia as Wall Street will view DeepSeek as a major perceived threat to US tech dominance and owning this AI revolution.Chirag Dekate, vice president and analyst at Gartner, thinks Wall Street may have overreacted to the DeepSeek news. In an interview with InformationWeek, Dekate says developments that reduce training costs will have an overall positive impact.Its not just model innovation, its a system innovation, Dekate says. The DeepSeek innovations are real, and they matter Lowering the cost structures is a net positive for the overall industry DeepSeek enables a pathway to utilize resource more productively. Meta, Microsoft, Google, OpenAI and other AI innovators can utilize those underlying capabilities even better. That will likely define the future of GenAI.Why is DeepSeek a Potential Disrupter?Businesses can take advantage of massive cost savings on DeepSeeks application programming interface (API) that boast costs of $.55 per million input tokens and $2.19 per million output tokens, a fraction of OpenAIs API pricing of $15 per million input tokens and $60 per million output tokens.But those savings come at a price -- experts say widespread adoption of a Chinese-made model could pose significant security risks.National security concerns in November prompted a bi-partisan US congressional group to sound the alarm on Chinas progress in AI. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission called for a government-funded effort to quickly develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) before China. AGI, which promises language models that match or better human intelligence, could be harnessed as a powerful weapon and give the country that first develops the technology a huge geopolitical advantage.And DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng stated in a recent interview that developing AGI is a top priority. Our destination is AGI, which means we need to study new model structures to realize stronger model capability with limited resources, Wenfeng told Chinese publication ChinaTalk in a November interview.The US also alleges China backed hacking group Volt Typhoons efforts to disrupt US critical infrastructure. China remains the most active and persistent cyber threat to US government, private-sector and critical infrastructure efforts, according to a blog post from the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), who warned of continuing state-sponsored security threats.Despite lower costs, Dekate says, enterprises will not likely rush into using DeepSeek widely because of potential legal liabilities. Enterprises should always be careful about creating external facing products that are produced by open-source models, Dekate says, noting that enterprise grade AI models offer more guardrails, security, and higher quality outputs. There are going to be constraints [with open source models] that Gemini, OpenAI and other models do not have you are going to get a more comprehensive answer on certain topics.About the AuthorShane SniderSenior Writer, InformationWeekShane Snider is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of industry experience. He started his career as a general assignment reporter and has covered government, business, education, technology and much more. He was a reporter for the Triangle Business Journal, Raleigh News and Observer and most recently a tech reporter for CRN. He was also a top wedding photographer for many years, traveling across the country and around the world. He lives in Raleigh with his wife and two children.See more from Shane SniderNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

Daisy Ridleys Star Wars film is to be written by George Nolfi.The scribe, who previously penned The Bourne Ultimatum and Oceans Twelve, is set to write the script for Star Wars: New Jedi Order, which will see the return of Ridleys character Rey.The upcoming movie was initially due to be penned by Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson, though the pair left the project in early 2023 due to creative differences with Lucasfilm.When New Jedi Order was announced at Star Wars Celebration in April 2023, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight was revealed as the new scribe for the movie, though he too parted ways with the flick in October 2024.A month later, rumors of New Jedi Orders production troubles began to ramp up after Disney removed a Star Wars film from its 2026 release schedule, and replaced it with Ice Age 6.LucasfilmLucasfilmloading...READ MORE: EveryStar WarsMovie, Ranked From Worst to BestAfter Knights departure and the change in Disneys release schedule had been reported, Ridley, 32, insisted the project was alive and well.She told City AM: Of course Im really excited to film and Im really excited to share developments with the world. Its all good, it really is!The Cleaner star who played Rey in J.J. Abrams The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker, as well as Rian Johnsons The Last Jedi added she was speaking with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy about getting more involved behind the camera on the film.She said: All of those conversations are positive and happening. Certainly in the producorial way I dont know that I will be that involved, but what has been amazing was creatively Kathy told me the idea for the story which is great and Ive been over all of the developments ... So, I feel more consciously involved [than before] but I remember various things either J.J. or Rian told me, so I was always really made to feel involved.But on this one Im aware of the route development. Its also really nice to know that we have the time to do it right.While she is keeping her lips sealed about story specifics, the Magpie actress teased her husband Tom Bateman was in the know about what will happen in New Jedi Order.Ridley told People: "He knows the story. [He] swore to secrecy.Its also interesting because there are so many more intricacies than one might [think]. If Im describing something to you, the actual reality of what it is might be quite different. But he does know the story.Get our free mobile appMovies That Were Abandoned During Production and Never FinishedThese movies were started but never completed or released for a variety of reasons.